Serve the People: The Asian American Movement in New York charts a history of Asian American activism, organizing, and cultural production in the 1970s, the first exhibition to focus on New York as a center of this national phenomenon. Through posters, leaflets, newspapers, film, and music, Serve the People shows how Asian American identity was shaped by reclaimed histories, revolutionary politics, feminist awareness, third worldism, and community organizing. The culture created by young activists and artists in the movement embodied their ideals, speaking to the excitement and urgency of the time.

On Tuesday,December 10 from 7-9PM, Interference Archive will host a gallery tour, co-sponsored by the A/P/A Institute at NYU, with curator Ryan Wong. Artist Tomie Arai and other movement activists whose work is included in the exhibition will be present. This is a great opportunity to not only get an in-depth view of the Serve the People exhibition, but also check out Interference Archive and look through our huge collection of posters, publications, and other movement ephemera.

Co-sponsored by Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.

More about Serve the People: The Asian American Movement in New York

In 1970s New York, one might have heard the folk group A Grain of Sand sing about “the struggle,” walked by a mural celebrating Asian American histories, or attended a screening of a documentary on garment workers in Chinatown. I Wor Kuen and Worker’s Viewpoint Organization distributed their revolutionary messages through newspapers and study groups, while community organizations like Asian Americans for Equal Employment galvanized Chinatown into mass protests. Basement Workshop served as an umbrella for artists’ projects as well as groups like Chinatown Health Fair, Asian American Resource Center, and the Amerasia Creative Arts Program.

In recovering and presenting this past, Serve the People cuts against the stereotype of political apathy among Asian Americans, and offers a radical history for today’s activists to build upon. The political horizon for Movement activists was limitless, whether they worked towards community control, artistic self-expression, or political overthrow. This energy is palpable in the culture they produced. In light of the great immigration of Asians to America since the 1960s and the looming questions of America’s economic and political relation to Asia, these works remind us of a moment of pride and revolution for a newly-formed identity.

Visitors are invited to handle and read through two of Interference Archive’s newest acquisitions: the seminal collection of art and poetry Yellow Pearl, and copies of the nationally-circulated Bridge Magazine. Other objects on display include the Asian Americans for Action Newsletter (published by Yuri and Bill Kochiyama in their home), buttons and posters for the Chinatown Health Fair, iconic photographs of the Peter Yew police brutality protests by Corky Lee, and posters designed by artist Tomie Arai.

A full schedule of public programs will accompany the exhibition, including film screenings, discussions, and readings.